The Predicament
by We.Feel.Infinite
Summary: Tamsin, Caitlin, Jessica and Keren were not ordinary teenagers. In fact they were quite extraordinary. Though it was universally known that these four Muggles were somewhat unique, on the eve of October the 29th 2012 these supposedly unimportant outcasts changed the fabric of their very universe.
1. The Crash

** The Predicament **

**Chapter 1: The Crash**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

Tamsin, Caitlin, Jessica and Keren were not ordinary teenagers. In fact they were quite extraordinary. Though it was universally known that these four Muggles were somewhat unique, on the eve of October the 29th 2012 these supposedly unimportant outcasts changed the fabric of the very universe.

As Tamsin Hardcastle sped along the backstreets of London her friends chatted animatedly without pause about a common interest - or should they say obsession - Harry Potter. Predictable, bearing in mind they were on their way to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour.

"So, I was reading this FanFiction the other day and it was about Harry being a cat and –"

"No! That is disgusting! We don't want to hear about Harry and Voldemort hooking up or crazy, forbidden love!" Jessica interrupted Caitlin's usual excited self as she ranted about her creepy non-canon fascinations.

"_Actually_ he got with Sirius in this one!"

"And that's not weird at all…"

"Well, Sirius is a dog." Tamsin yawned, taking her hand off the wheel to rub her tired eyes. "So he'd hardly go for a cat, would he?"

"But Crookshanks is a cat!" Caitlin tried to counteract.

"Yes, but Crookshanks is half kneazle."

"Well Harry is half human!"

This earned Caitlin three exasperated sighs. They'd had the conversation a million and one times in the four and a half hours it had taken them to get to London.

Silence reigned for half a second before they all burst into hysterical fits of laughter. The day had been long and tiresome for all. Especially Tamsin, who had been driving non-stop aside the several bathroom breaks along the way.

Behind the hysterical laughter thoughts of sleep were creeping into their young minds. Determined to reach their destination before nightfall, the teens did not realise the harm that could befall them if their driver was not alert.

"How long is left now?" Keren questioned the car at large.

"20 minutes or so,"

She groaned, letting her head fall against the back of Caitlin's seat. "This is taking forever!"

"Don't blame me!" Exclaimed an irked Tamsin.

"Well drive faster then!"

"Guys, just quit it!" But Jessica's pleas were ignored as Tamsin slammed down on the accelerator.

"There, are you happy now?" Tamsin screeched as the engine roared under the added power.

Keren glared at her redheaded friend. "Well at least we're going to get there in a reasonable amount of time now instead of rolling along at two miles a bloody hour!"

"Well, if I crash then you can blame yourself!"

"Well you agreed to it, I didn't force you to do anything."

Meanwhile, Caitlin was ignoring her bickering friends, staring in wonder out of the window. Outside, just about to pass the crossroads, were two identical old-fashioned, dark green cars. Just like the ones that had escorted Harry to Kings Cross Station at the beginning his third year.

That's when she realised the two cars were closer than she had expected. Tamsin was seconds away from ploughing straight into them. Keren, also noticing the cars, screamed in terror.

Tamsin swivelled back to face the road. She slammed on the brakes. The car lurched forward, spinning out of control.

Time seemed to stop. Keren's arm rose to protect her delicate features from the oncoming disaster. Jessica stared straight forward, frozen, too petrified to make a sound. Caitlin's thoughts were predictably elsewhere; The Harry Potter tour, a place she feared she may never get to visit.

The world stood still as the mini cooper collided with the second of the old-fashioned cars that reminded Caitlin oh so much of Harry Potter. Then everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Moooorning! Trust us, it will get better in later chapters. Specifically, chapter three. We have epic ideas of raw epicness. It should be epic. Also, despite these being our first names (yay for first names!) we've changed our last names in conjunction to other family names (ie, mother's maiden name). These are:**

**Tamsin Hardcastle**

**Jessica Martin**

**Caitlin Costello**

**Keren Westwood**

**Mwahahahahhahahahahaha. Review/favourite! Maybe? If you're feeling kind? Please? Pretty pretty please? We'll give you cookies! :D**

**_Disclaimer: Sadly, we don't own Harry Potter. It makes us want to cry and shizz. _**


	2. St Mungos

**The Predicament**

**Chapter 2: St Mungos**

**Keren's POV**

"Urgh!" Blinking, I look up at the crystal white ceiling, wondering where the hell I am. I'm sure I was in a car...

"Miss… You're in St. Mungos." What. The. Hell.

"My friends…What about them. Wait, what happened, why am I here?" I find myself asking, my statement speeding up until I feels like I'm babblin.

"Your friend is over there but there is someone here to talk to you." Gently helping me sit up on the bed, I can see Jessica over on the bed opposite me, still sleeping but looking okay, then, the start of his sentence catches up with me.

"My friend? As in one friend? What about the others? What about them? Caitlin? Tamsin?"

"Oh, they were taken to the psychiatric ward; they have concussion which I fear has affected their memory as they were talking about a Harry Potter Studio Tour? When I asked what this was, they looked at me like I was crazy and babbled about how 'awesome' it was before starting to scream hysterically so I lead them to the ward for a check-up…" The cute healer trails off as he notices his superior standing there.

"Matthew, you know not to discuss other patients with anyone." Smiling, the older healer opens the door further to reveal an old man who looks quite familiar. He has a long, trailing white beard, sparkling blue eyes and wacky clothes. Wait… Only one person in the entire universe matches that description…

I walk unsteadily towards him, hand reaching out, before touching his robes gently. He's real.

"Well, this is unexpected… so, excuse me a minute," I state before jogging to Jessica's bedside and shaking her, "Wake the hell up, you knobber!' Slowly, Jessica starts to rouse.

"Mmm… Cake… Wait what? Keren?" Jessica yawns throughout the sentence, before closing her eyes, wishing to sleep more - but I'm going to let her.

Yanking her upright, I whisper angrily in her ear. "Get up, we've lost Caitlin and Tamsin and we're in a hospital and Dumbledore is here wanting to talk to us!"

"What?! Where?!" Shouts Jessica. I thought that would make her react. Jumping off the bed, she hightails it to Dumbledore and hugs him. What the hell is going…

"DUMBLEDORE!" Jess screeches, bear hugging the man so tightly I'm sure he must've stopped breathing. "OH MY MERLIN! IT'S ACTUALLY YOU! I LOVE YOU! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

As she continues yelling ridiculous comments about Hogwarts and Dumbledore, I glance at the young healer, Matthew, and smile flirtatiously at him, looking up at him through my lusciously long lashes, enhanced by my 'Max Factor False Lash Effect' mascara. He looks away, slightly embarrassed and shoots a look at Jessica, who's clinging on to Dumbledore as if he's her life source. Sighing, I walk over to Jess and gently prise her hands from around Dumbledore's waist. As I throw Dumbledore an apologetic look I guide a now hyperventilating Jess to the edge of her bed. Once we're both perched on the hospital bed I look back at Dumbledore expectantly.

"So," Dumbledore starts, clearing his throat "It would appear as though you and your friends have been in a car crash with a highly important Ministry vehicle, which happ-"

"Hang on a minute," Jess interrupts, "Tamsin, _Tamsin,_ driving extraordinaire _crashed_? The _almighty_ Tamsin, who passed her test the _first time, _crashed her super expensive Audi?!"

"Yes, Miss Hardcastle has indeed crashed her car-"

"Her parents are going to kill her!" Jess laughs incredulously.

I'm starting to get irritated with her constant interruptions, so naturally, I tell her to shut up in the politest way possibly. "Oi! Knobber, shut it will you? Dumbledore's trying to speak!" She shuts up instantaneously. I look at Dumbledore and wait for him to continue.

"Well," Dumbledore continues "The Ministry car in which you crashed into was carrying some very important magical items known as Time Turners-"

"I have a Time Turner!" Jess exclaimes. After noticing Dumbledore's stunned expression she adds, "Well, a fake one." He shoots her an inquiring look, which she just shrugs off, and continues.

"Anyway, your friends appear to be slightly confused and disoriented. We suspect that they may be concussed, having taken more impact from being in the front of the vehicle. I believe they are over in the psychiatric ward, Healer Lewis?"

After a quick glance at his superior to check it's alright for him to continue, the insanely handsome Matthew Lewis (_What a coincidence!_) says "Yes, they are. If you'd like to follow me, I'll escort you to them." And beckons us to follow him out of the room.

As I walk behind Healer Lewis, I can't help but notice how nice his arse is. It looks so round and firm…

"Keren!" Jess exclaims in a staged whisper, breaking me out of my reverie, "We're in St Mungo's! We are _actually_ in St Mungo's!"

"Oh wow! Really? I hadn't noticed!" I whisper back in mock surprise. One thing you soon learn about Jessica is that she's incredibly intelligent, yet has a tendency to say the stupidest things, and has a severe lack of common sense. It's one of those funny little quirks which you can't help but love her for.

"I _told_ you Hogwarts was real!" She replies, matter-of-factly. I can tell by her eyes that it's like Christmas has come early two months early (which, being as child-like as she is, she absolutely _adores_). Now, as much as I _love_ Harry Potter, Jessica, Tamsin and Caitlin take it to the extreme. They spend virtually every waking moment discussing it - or The Hunger Games or Percy Jackson or The Lord of the Rings – talking about shippings and FanFictions and the on-going battle between Tamsin and Caitlin over Canon versus Non-Canon. They buy every piece of Harry Potter merchandise they can get their hands on and constantly fangirl over the _entire _cast (Even the women), and though most of the time I'm perfectly happy to listen to their rants and bickering, sometimes it does become a _tad_ over bearing. Personally, I'm more of a Hunger Games fan myself. And I've outright refused to read the Percy Jackson series (A fact that seems to annoy Tamsin. A lot). So naturally, after a while it becomes less amusing and more tedious, which makes me wonder how the hell I'm going to cope with _all three_ in _the_ _wizarding world._ I mean, clearly we're not witches, otherwise we would've got our Hogwarts acceptance letters the summer before we went to high school. Which we didn't. This means I'm going to have to deal with three hyperactive teenagers, who are eventually going to realise that there is a _whole_ wizarding community out there, which they can never be a part of. Then again, I suppose the Ministry will just 'obliviate' us…

As I continue to ponder these happy thoughts we arrive outside the ward which holds Tamsin and Caitlin. Naturally, you can hear Tamsin from behind the closed doors.

"I am _not _insane!" Tamsin's talking at her usual volume; which basically means _extremely _loud. "And as much as I fervently agree that Caitlin does indeed need to be sectioned, I can't leave her here, so she'll have to come with though she screams PSYCHOPATH, especially after the _Sirry_ incident, I mean, God knows what's got into her. Sirius and _Harry_? Her _OTP_? Siriusly? It's worse than Snily!"

As I follow Matthew to the end of the ward, I hear Caitlin erupt into a fountain of childish giggles, only for her to realise that Tamsin has just insulted her OTP. She desperately tries to regain composure to defend her One True Pairing, but can't form the words through her fits of laughter. I don't even need to see her to know that she is undoubtedly crying. Caitlin _always_ cries with laughter, looking and sounding more like she's having a heart attack rather than finding something highly entertaining.

Healer Lewis leads us into the white room which holds our two supposedly insane friends. Then again, we can probably cut out the 'supposedly'…

"Now, this may be quite a shock to both of you," Matthew starts, giving both Jess and me sympathetic looks, "The simplest way to put this is that your friends have not been making much sense. Though they can speak correctly and fully form words and coherent sentences, what they are talking about is nonsensical. However, they do appear to understand what the other is saying."

"What's the problem then?" says Jess, striding forward and shoving open the heavy white doors, "It sounds about right for them."

I walk around Matthew the Healer, subtly brushing against him as I pass, and follow Jess into the room. Inside there are two beds: One neatly made, the other messy with covers strewn all over the place. I don't even need to see who's on each one to know whose is whose. Tamsin _never _makes her bed. _Ever._ There's a singular small set of draws in between the two beds and a couple of simple cushioned plastic chairs in the corner. Tamsin's sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed, as though she's throwing a strop, which, to be fair, she most probably i. It's not uncommon for Tamsin to throw a temper tantrum. As soon as we enter the room, she leaps up from her spot on the bed and envelops both of us in one of her infamous rib-crushing bear hugs.

"Tell them I am not insane!" Tamsin demands, as Caitlin stands up from being perched on the edge of her bed and standsgrinning at both of us, her face still bright red from her laughing fit.

"I'm sorry Tamsin," Caitlin says, starting to giggle, "But I must not tell lies." And she once again begins to hysterically laugh like some homicidal maniac.

"Tamsin, we're in St Mungos!" Jess exclaims, but then seems to realise that it's down to Tamsin that we've ended up here in the first place, and so embraces her in a bear hug to rival her own. "And it's your fault for crashing the bloody car! Thank you! Thank you so, so much!"

After Jess has released Tamsin and Caitlin's laughing has subsided, Dumbledore and Healer Lewis, who have be hovering in the doorway, enter the room and, after some persuasion, I manage to convince Tamsin _not_ to bear hug Dumbledore too and to sit down because he needs to talk to us all.

After we're all perched on the edge of the beds, Dumbledore begins.

"Well, as you know, you have had a car crash, which has resulted in all four of you being admitted to St Mungos." Dumbledore's face is calm and serene as he proceeds to tell us the details of the crash "As I have already told Miss Westwood and Miss Martin, the vehicle you crashed into was a Ministry vehicle containing three Time Turner-"

"_Seriously_?!" Tamsin exclaims in shock, but after we all shush her she goes silent and waits for Dumbledore to continue.

"-Which were being transported back to the Ministry. We are not entirely sure of what has happened, but I don't believe that Miss Hardcastle and Miss Costello are concussed."

"But-!" Healer Matthew tries to protest. Dumbledore simply raise his hand to cut him off and continues.

"Would you mind telling me what year it is please?" Asks Dumbledore, directing the question at us. It seems like a weird question but we all answer simultaneously.

"2012."

Dumbledore looks at us; as though we're a puzzle he's having great difficulty solving. Then he says something that none of us expect:

"Actually, it's 1976."

* * *

**A/N Hey guys! Just want to apologise in case we massively offended anyone by insulting their OTP. Sorry! And let it be known that this chapter was written almost entirely** **by Tamsin, with a couple of paragraphs from Caitlin and five words from Jess (Hey, I resent that!). Nothing, at all from Keren, but we doubt she'll ever write much. We promise to update soon (probably)! Byee!**

**_Disclaimer: As we all know, us four Muggle - well, maybe not for long ;) - teenagers do not own Harry Potter. We also don't own Healer Matthew Lewis - I mean, really, _what_ a coincidence! Yeah. Matthew Lewis owns himself and all his sexiness etc etc. _  
**


	3. All Hallows Eve

**The Predicament**

**All Hallows Eve**

**Tamsin's POV**

Caitlin looks riddikulus. Get it? Riddikulus? No? Well, moving swiftly on. To be honest, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Caitlin was my boggart, because, quite honestly, right now, she looks like the stuff of nightmares. Seriously. She's dressed as a werewolf. I kid you not. The sight is actually horrifying. I think she's under the (incorrect) assumption that this outfit will help her attract a certain werewolf she has affectionately nicknamed 'Remy'. Good luck with that, Cait!

Anyway, why is our dear friend Caitlin dressed as a werewolf you may ask. Why, it's Halloween of course! We should probably back track a bit first though, to when good ol' Dumbledore informed us that we had indeed travelled back in time. By thirty six years! Hurray! Well done me! Nevertheless, as you can imagine, it was absolute chaos. There were glasses smashing, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screams, apocalyptic style outrage! Well… Not really. But we were shocked. It was a lot to take in. I thought Caitlin, the poor thing, was going to have an aneurysm! I mean, we were in ST MUNGOS, talking to ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, thirty six years IN THE PAST! My mind was running faster than Usain Bolt. Moving on, Dumbledore then went on to explain to us that the time turners we had crashed into had caused a momentary rip in the space/time continuum which allowed us to travel so far back in time and not disintegrate. Apparently, we should be glad it wasn't something like the Stone Age or middle ages. To be perfectly honest, I'm just glad it's not the eighties (yet…). The mere thought of Mullets and Bananarama makes my skin crawl.

Anyhoo, according to Dumbledore, this rip in time could reopen at any moment, dragging us back to our own era, but until then we get to go to Hogwarts. I swear to God, time stopped. Caitlin, (bless her little cotton socks!) unable to produce a high enough squeal of excitement, fainted. And I don't blame her. Never in my wildest dreams did I actually think I'd get to go to Hogwarts! I usually spend my evenings dreaming about be allowed to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but Hogwarts? Oh. My. Merlin. I was speechless. I felt like I was going to explode. Which is why I, being the super-smart and logical person that I am, kindly pointed out that we were in fact, lowly Muggles. Luckily, the ever-ready Dumbledore swooped in with an explanation. To be pulled through the time vortex or whatever, we must possess at least some form of magical ability. However, he offered up no explanation as to why we didn't go to Hogwarts in our own era. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to award the prize for the ditziest person in the entire history of man-kind. Any guess? That's right folks, it goes to our good friend Jessica Sophie Martin! Yes, because our dear old friend Jessica, Merlin help her, piped up with her theory on 'Why We Didn't Receive Our Hogwarts Acceptance Letters'. And for those of you who don't know, it went a little like this 'When Voldemort was in power he wiped all the Muggle-borns off the register. I told you that's why we didn't get our letters!'. She then proceeded to retell Dumbledore the _entire_ story of Harry Potter. Well done, genius. I kindly pointed out that she may have just changed the very fabric of the universe, thus causing the world to implode. Or at least changed the course of a Mr Harry James Potter's life, consequently, meaning a certain Lord Voldemort will reign as supreme overlord of everything. Fortunately for Jess, this was not the case, as according Dumbledore, our memories would've also have altered to fit this dimension.

Anyway, we had a very long and lengthy chat with the legend that is Albus Dumbledore and Healer Lewis (whom I suspect Keren fancies, lets face it, she fancies anyone with a pulse), in which we (or rather Healer Lewis did) decided that we would spend one more night at St Mungo's, and go to Hogwarts in the morning, to ensure that we were perfectly fine and so we had the day to settle in before the Halloween feast that evening.

After that we went back to our respective wards, Caitlin and I still being treated for suspected 'concussion' and in the morning we used Floo Powder to travel to Hogwarts (It was so amazing!). Once we had arrived at Dumbledore's office he told us that we had the day to explore the castle and learn our way around and practise not telling people the future. He decided that we could be sorted at the Halloween feast and that tomorrow we could go to Diagon Alley and buy school supplies. With the sixth year prefects. _Lily Evans and Remus Lupin_. The sound which came out of Caitlin was higher than any note I've ever heard before. And that is saying something as I'm a Violinist and have heard a hell of a lot of unreasonably high notes. Granted, Caitlin has been in love with 'Remy' since she first read the Prisoner of Azkaban, always exclaiming whenever he is mention 'Oh! I love Remy!' in a really high voice. I mean _really high._

So, now, here we are, dressed like lunatics, on our way to the Great Hall, after spending the day running round Hogwarts like retards. We decided that we would wear our Halloween costumes to the Halloween feast as because we don't yet own any robes we're allowed to wear whatever we want and we thought it quite fitting. And these costumes cost me an _absolute _ _fortune._ So, currently we have Caitlin looking terrifying in her werewolf costume, Keren looking rather slutty as… well, Keren (She didn't want to get dressed up), Jessica rocking the Gandalf the Grey look, and me, Tamsin Hardcastle, looking super sexy as a prisoner. Of Azkaban, to be more specific. Oh I can't wait to meet Sirius! Being my favourite character in the series and after reading a vast array of FanFictions with him being hilariously funny and generally amazing, he better live up to my expectations. In fact, all the Marauders had. Especially Pettigrew (The traitorous bastard!), of whom we have discussed the issue of.

Apparently, Jess's little outburst regarding the tale of The-Boy-Who-Lived, hasn't effected the future in anyway. However, murdering Peter Pettigrew would. And Jessica and I spent about an hour arguing with Caitlin and Keren about why we could not tell James and Lily about Pettigrew's treachery. As Caitlin and Keren saw it, Harry would have a better childhood, Sirius wouldn't go to Azkaban and Remus would have a much better financial support, thus a better quality of life and he wouldn't mope about being a depressed werewolf all the time. He'd also still have friends. Hence this means everyone would be better off. Jess and I pointed out that we can't guarantee that would happen, therefore to ensure the downfall of Lord Voldemort and the safety of all Muggles and Muggle-Borns in the future, when need to let history run it's course. Also, Pettigrew must've been a good friend at one point, otherwise the others wouldn't have befriended him, as Jessica pointed out. There must have been something that made him betray his friends that we didn't know about. Other than he's a pathetic coward.

"Tamsin?" Caitlin whispers to me in awe. Her eyes are wide and she's just generally looking like Christmas has arrived early. Her and Jess have so much in common.

"Yes, Caitlin?" I enquire, being the polite person that I am.

"We're here." I look up to be faced with the intricate designs on the colossal wooden door to the Great Hall.

"It would appear so. Your powers of deduction are truly amazing, Caitlin!" I can't help but get a little sarcastic with her. It was a very obvious comment.

"They're clearly better than yours! You were just about to walk into the doors!" Caitlin says, giggling giddily, a common habit of Cait's.

"No I wasn't! I just wanted to see the door up close and to… look at the pretty patterns!"

"_Suuure_, Tamsin."

One is not amused. How dare she imply that I am unobservant! Humph! Some people are _so_ rude!

Oppose to insulting Caitlin with an incredibly and funny witty comment, which I obviously could've done, because I am an incredibly funny and witty person, I have decided to just take the moral high ground, and like the mature adult I am, I stick my tongue out at her.

"Okay guy, you ready?" I quiz the others. They're all looking like eager beavers (including Keren, which is odd as usual she just gives the mildly indifferent look that I always take to mean 'whatever', then go on to do whatever the hell I want to do, regardless of whether she wants to or not), so I turn towards the gargantuan (that is a very fun word to say by the way, especially in a deep, dramatic voice) doors. Right now is time for our big entrance. I'm going to shove open the doors and announce our arrival, then walk - no, _swagger_ - down the middle of the hall and finally find out whether Pottermore lies. In other words, get sorted. Right, time to go.

I walk up the two doors and shove both of them wide open. Or so I hoped I would. They actually just stay were they are. I try again. Again, they remain unmoved. I'm getting _really_ annoyed now. Why won't the doors just bloody move! This time when I try, I ram my shoulder against one of the doors and continue shoving it until it starts moving, then I switch to both my hands and continue until it's fully open.

Jess, Caitlin and Keren are laughing at me. Wankers. They didn't even try to help me with the door.

"Oh gee, thanks for the help guys! That door's a lot heavier than it looks you know!" And now I've turned round. And guess what I'm greeted by? Merlin knows how many gawping faces all looking insanely confused as to what has just occurred.

"Well," I say "That wasn't exactly the dramatic entrance I was hoping for… Ah well! We're here now!" I announce, grinning at everyone. Aw, bless! They all look so confused!

"As, I was saying," Dumbledore starts, obviously continuing the speech which we must've interrupted "We'll be having four new students joining us-"

Sadly, Dumbledore's speech is cut off. Go ahead. Ask why. Because Jessica Sophie Martin, who is dressed up as Gandalf the Grey, is currently running towards Dumbledore yelling:

"HUG ME BROTHER!"

Drake and Josh was such an amazing program…

She's just basically rugby tackled Dumbledore into a hug. Strangely enough, Dumbledore is hugging her back. I think this may in fact be the most epic moment of my life. I have actually got to witness Dumbledore and Gandalf, the two greatest bearded men of all time, hugging! I'm in bliss.

Okay, they've stopped hugging now, and Jess is making her way towards us with a ridiculously large grin plastered on her face.

"Moving on, we will be sorting these four students, but first, you must all be dying to tuck in to the Halloween feast!" The students began cheering at this point. Jesus, they must be starving. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when Jessica joins in with them. She's _always_ hungry. "If you four girls just want to sit wherever you want for now, you'll be sorted after the feast." Dumbledore calls to us over the sudden mass of noise. At least that's what I think he said.

We begin walking down the aisle in between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Surprisingly a lot of people don't seem to want us to sit with them. As we walk past they all seem to put their heads down, move round a bit so there's not enough room and look generally unfriendly and – why has Caitlin stopped?

Oh god. She's spotted Remus Lupin. And she's stood next to him. Staring. Really intently staring. She's staring at him like he's a Weeping Angel. I swear, it's like if she looks away she'll die. And worse of all, he's staring back. Except he looks confused and slightly scared. Jess is slowly walking up to her.

"Erm… Can I help you?" Remus asks Caitlin, looking slightly worried, which to be fair, he has every right to. A creep stalker is stood beside him, staring at him like he's her life source. I'd be running out of the hall screaming if anyone was staring at me like that. It's terrifying. And I'm used to it. It's how she looks when she's reading music.

Caitlin just continues to stare at him, her eyes wide in awe, like she's surprised he's talking to her and that her every wish has just come true. Beside Remus, Sirius Black is sat laughing his head off, obviously finding his friend's discomfort highly amusing.

"Come on, Caitlin, let's go sit down over here." Jess has reached Caitlin and is trying to guide her a bit further down the aisle, but Cait is sticking to that spot like glue. Hmm… looks like we'll have to sit there then. Next to the Marauders. Oh, what a shame!

I grab Caitlin's other arm, saying to her "Why don't we just sit here then Caitlin?" Guiding her to the bench next to Remus. Then Jess, who suddenly decides that's a bad idea (which is probably wise), moves Caitlin to the side a little.

"I better sit here actually." She says while sliding into the space between Caitlin and Remus.

Now, where for me to sit. There isn't enough room on this side of the bench for me to sit down, so I'll have to go to the other side with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. Keren has already stared making her way around, walking to the end of the aisle then walking back up to where we are. I could do the same, but who am I kidding? I'm far too lazy for that! So instead, I slide my hands between Caitlin and Jess, and pushed them apart to make room for me. To stand on the bench and climb over the table to the other side. The sensible option, in my opinion.

Well, this is awkward. We're all sat in silence, staring at Caitlin, with the exception of Caitlin, who's staring at Remus. Awkward… Well, time for Tamsin to swoop in and ease the tension. I clear my throat and turn to address Remus.

"Well, I must apologize for my friend's behaviour. She doesn't usually stop and stare at random men so intently. Only on occasion. Once or twice a week maybe… Sometimes four…"

"Hmm… It appears Caitlin isn't the only one with a tendency to stare at people. Does he do that often?" Keren suddenly pipes up with, gesturing to Peter, who, up until that moment, has been staring at Keren like she's a Goddess. Everyone's head (except from Caitlin's, whose eyes were still on Remus) snaps round to look at a now tomato red Pettigrew. All of a sudden Sirius Black bursts into laughter.

"HA! She's a bit out of your league, isn't she mate?" Sirius jokes, oblivious to how hurt Pettigrew is by the comment. Then he turns towards me and thrusts his hand forward. "Sirius Black. And this is Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Remus Lupin" He ttells me, gesturing to each in turn with one hand whist shaking mine with the other.

Now, I'd love to be able to say that the world stopped turning and that time stood still when he looked into my eyes, and that it was love at first sight. But it wasn't. I mean, he is _gorgeous_. He is positively heavenly, Mary Poppins 'Practically Perfect In Everyway'. I am not let down by his physique, he is literally a Sex God, but I just feel indifference. I was really expecting to be swooning at his feet, awestruck by his beauty, they way I suspect I would if I was stood in front of Josh Hutcherson. But I'm not. And I don't know why, but that disappoints me slightly.

"Er… Why are you dressed as a werewolf?" The voice of a teenage girl wakes me up out of my stupor. Wait… Is that Lily Evans?! Geez… I'm such a bad fan! How could I not notice that half of my OTP is sitting right beside me?

Without missing a beat, Caitlin swivels her head around, glaring at Lily.

"Because," Caitlin starts slowly drawing out the word, still glowering at Lily "Werewolves are AMAZING AND AWESOME AND SEXY AND BEAUTIFUL AND… MORE POSITIVE ADJECTIVES!"

Well… this is awkward… again. For the second time in twice as many minutes the whole hall is staring at us. And Remus is bright red. And when I say bright, I mean tomato-coloured. Poor Remy!

"That's nice to know Caitlin." Keren says, her voice dripping with sarcasm while trying to casually edge away from Peter.

"Just because you're pre-jude-iced against werewolves!" Caitlin spits back with venom. Ah, Caitlin, and her pronunciation skills!

There's a light coughing sound to the left of Jessica. In sync, we all turn to look at Remus, who's still blushing madly.

"It's… er… pronounced 'prejudiced', actually…" He stutters nervously, going, if possible, even redder.

"Oh... Okay… Thanks?" Caitlin replies timidly, smiling slightly at the fact that 'Remy' has talked to her.

"Wait." I announce loudly "_He_ can correct you, but _I _can't?" I question. "I do pity you, Caitlin. Clearly you're jealous of my superior intellect and beauty. I don't blame you, a lot of people are."

Caitlin frowns, then retorts, rather wittily actually "Tamsin, I'd really love to see the world from you're perspective. Unfortunately, I can't get my head that far up my arse."

"Well, at least I can pronounce 'prejudiced'!" I snap back at Caitlin.

Someone snorts unreasonably loud and I turn to see James Potter and Sirius Black clutching their stomachs with laughter at the whole affair.

"Oh how attractive Potter, snorting." Lily states with distaste.

"I always knew you wanted me, Evans." James smirks, winking at Lily.

"Oh of course I do, Potter" Lily smiles sarcastically at James as he beams at her, then continues "That is, in your wildest dreams."

"Oh Lily, my dear, you are. Frequently." James counters, while Sirius bursts into another round of laughter.

Then Sirius turns to us and says "Congratulations! Your first day here and you've already witnessed your first 'Jily' fight."

My mouth gapes open. They _actually _call them 'Jily'? This is the best day of my life. _Ever_. Out of the corner my eye, I see Caitlin mirroring my expression.

"You _actually _call them 'Jily'!" Jess laughs incredulously, voicing everyone's (well, mine and Caitlin's at least) thoughts.

"Er… yes? Why?" Sirius replies, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Nothing. It's just a very good choice in shipping name. Better than 'Lames'" Jessica states, generally confusing everyone listening, with the exception of Caitlin, Keren and I.

"What's shipping?" James asks curiously.

Suddenly, the hall quietens, and I turn to see Dumbledore stood up, ready to address the school. Everyone turns to look at Dumbledore, and I wait in silent anticipation of what Dumbledore is going to say.

"Now we have all gorged ourselves on that delicious feast, it's time to sort our new students!" Dumbledore glances at us, his eyes twinkling, alight with humour. I turn towards the others, grinning madly in expectation. I'm _sooo_ excited! I've been waiting for this moment for half of my life! I can't believe this is actually happening! Feeling rather queasy and nervous, I stand up with the others and start walking towards the front of the hall.

Far too quickly, we arrive at the head table. I raise my head confidently, acting like I'm not shitting myself, when in actuality I am.

"So, which one of you lovely young ladies would like to go first?" Dumbledore inquires politely, looking at each of us in turn.

We all look at each other, and almost immediately, Jess, Cait and I shove Keren forward, volunteering her for the task of going first. Looking rather indifferent, Keren saunters forward and sits down on the stool, which is clearly designed for first years. Naturally, Keren fits on it perfectly.

Sat on the stool, Keren casually crosses her legs, smoothing out her what-I-do-not-honestly-think-can-classify-as-a skirt. Dumbledore places the Sorting Hat on Keren's head, and suddenly, her casual demeanour drops. She unfolds her legs and desperately clutches on to the sides of the stool, her dark brown eyes wide in alarm. Abruptly the Sorting Hat cries out "Hufflepuff!"

I can't help it! A small giggle erupts from my lips. I honestly can't imagine Keren as a Hufflepuff though! She's not very kind, she's not very loyal and she's most certainly not hard working. But then again, she doesn't really fit in any of the other houses… I look towards Keren, who is making her way down to the Hufflepuff table, looking rather embarrassed for some reason, and I notice that all the Hufflepuffs are glaring. At me. It appears my burst of laughter didn't go unnoticed.

"Who's next?" Dumbledore looks at the three of us expectantly. Caitlin and I turn to look at each other and simultaneously push an unwilling Jessica towards the stool. Frowning at us both in turn, Jessica walks up to the stool and places the Sorting Hat on her head. Her eyes grow wide in wonder as the Hat speaks inside her mind. Unlike Keren, who was noticeably terrified, she is visibly fascinated by it. And I'm not surprised! She's been waiting her whole life for this moment!

Unexpectedly, the Hat calls aloud to the room "Gryffindor!"

Jessica cheers in delight, and runs grinning towards the seat she had previously vacated. Well, it seems that Pottermore is right. For Jessica, at least. Let's see if we can make it two out of three.

Instead of waiting for Dumbledore to ask who's next, Caitlin and I, once again, turn to look at each other. Oh Poor Caitlin! She's clearly panicking and anxious. So being the good friend that I am, I push her to the front. You always save the best till last; and obviously the best means me. Glaring hatefully at me, she walks begrudgingly to the stool and rams the hat onto her head, all the while looking at me seething. It's rather comical to see Caitlin on the stool, as, though it's the right height for Keren, it's far too small for Caitlin the Giant, (who is actually a giant. I am not just tiny, no matter what she says. She _lies_.) She's virtually hugging her knees they're that bent.

Without warning, Caitlin lets out a massive squeal of delight, jumping up off the stool, clutching the Sorting Hat to her head as tightly as she can. Almost immediately the Hat calls out "Hufflepuff!" Well done, Pottermore! Time to find out whether you're 100% accurate, Mr Pottermore. Judgement day has arrived.

I make my way towards the Sorting Hat in the cool and calm demeanour I always possess. Caitlin however, doesn't appear to want to let go of her new friend, the Sorting Hat. She's still clutching it to her head. I'm not really surprised though. Caitlin does tend to get attached to things very easily. Which is why I pity poor old Remus. He'll never escape her clutches!

I gently try to pry the Hat for Cait's fingers, with little success. Jesus that girl has a good grip. Hm… what to do… well, I could wrestle it off her, but that would 'cause a scene' (like we haven't done that already…) and the teachers probably wouldn't like it… or… I'm suddenly hit by a stroke of genius. Well, I'm not. I'm always a genius, I just happened to have a particularly good idea at this moment in time.

"Look Caitlin! Is that the Easter Bunny?" I yell, pointing to a random corner of the room. Exactly as I thought she would, Caitlin jumps up again, letting go of the edge of the Hat saying "Where?"

I jump into action, grabbing the Hat off the top of Caitlin's head and lightly guiding (or pushing. Really it's a matter of opinion) in the direction of the Hufflepuff table. Caitlin turns and scowls at me, in a way that scarily resembles my sister, then sticks her tongue out at me. Geez, she's such an immature person. I'd never _dream_ of doing the same to her. Never. Ever. Not even a little bit. I mostly definitely did not stick my tongue out at Caitlin in a childish, immature way. Not at all.

Yeah… well, moving on. I sit down on the stool, and gently lower the Sorting Hat on to my head. All of a sudden, out of the blue, the Hat starts talking to me, in the privacy of my own mind. I feel rather violated to be honest.

_Hello there Miss Hardcastle. _

**Why, hello Mr Hat, how is your day?**

_Hm… very polite… but still, Hufflepuff just wouldn't do, far too unkind…_

**Excuse me? Me? Unkind? You've got to be joking!**

… _Hm… Maybe Slytherin? No, no, no… Not nearly so cunning, yet just as ambitions… Hm… quite intelligent, might do well in Ravenclaw…_

**Thank you, Mr Hat, I am rather intelligent, aren't I?**

…_Very bold… Very, very bold… and outgoing… maybe you're best suited for _"Gryffindor!" The Hat announces the last word audibly to the rest of the hall. I blink in shock, not expecting the Hat to address the Hall. Well, fair play Mr Pottermore, fair play. It seems you were right on all three accounts.

I stand up and make my way toward where Jessica's sitting on the Gryffindor bench. I grin madly at her as I approach. As soon as I sit down, Jessica whispers to me:

"Tamsin, there's no Scarf Of Sexual Preference!"

I stifle my laughter and reply, "I know, it's so disappointing isn't it?"

"What's the scarf of sexual preference?" Peter inquires from beside me. This time I accidentally let out a bark of laughter, which I quickly cover as a cough. You know, subtly and not at all cliché.

"It doesn't matter." I whisper back to Peter out of the corner of my mouth, desperately trying not to burst into hysterical laughter at the sight of his confused expression.

"Well, now that's over and done with, I think it's time we all made our way back to the dormitories." Dumbledore states "If the four new young ladies and Miss Evans and Mr Lupin, could meet me in my office tomorrow morning at half nine, and if Miss Evans would be so kind as to escort Miss Martin and Miss Hardcastle to their dormitory, and Miss Phillip, Miss Costello and Miss Westwood to theirs, it would be very much appreciated."

All the students start to rise, and as I catch Caitlin's eye on the table across from us, I wave goodbye, grinning at her insanely happy expression, as she engages in conversation with 'Miss Phillip', Keren walks behind them rather subdued.

"Come on, you two." Lily's voice startles me, as I realise she's stood directly behind me. I hastily stand up.

"What the bloody hell are you dressed up as, anyway?" She asks looking amused.

"A prisoner." I reply, deeming it unwise to add 'Of Azkaban' on the end.

"And I'm Gandalf The Grey!" Jessica pipes up from beside me. Lily's eyes brighten at the mention of Gandalf.

"I thought so, but I was unsure as to whether you were actually supposed to be him, or just looked incredibly like him by coincidence, as you dressed up as an old, wise wizard with a staff." Lily explains, looking extremely happy that Jess is the former of the two options. "I absolutely _love_ The Lord Of The Rings. And The Hobbit. And J.R.R Tolkien in general."

Both Jessica and I are taken aback by the fact that Lily is an avid Tolkien fan, but eagerly engage in conversation regarding it. Which is what we mainly continue to talk about for the rest of the evening, gladly steering Lily off the topic of 'So why did you decide to come here then?', as, being the wise people that we are, we have not yet planned a cover story.

Around eleven o'clock, both me and Jess decide to call it a night, and go upstairs to the dormitory which we now share with Lily Evans, Alice Fortescue and Mary McDonald, as the fourth member of their company had previous asked if she could switch dormitories after a rather nasty argument with Lily regarding a certain James Potter. I lay in bed for around ten minutes, certain that I'll never be able to sleep due to the excitement of being at Hogwarts and curiosity as to what tomorrow's events will entail. However, I prove myself wrong, (yes, it does happen Ladies and Gentlemen. Every now and again I get something wrong. Don't worry, it's not a regular occurrence. It only happens around every decade or so) as ten minutes later I'm fast asleep. Dreaming of giant, people devouring marshmallows, and chocolate covered SpongeBob's (which look very tasty by the way).

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! Tamsin here! Sorry this took so long! You know, been busy with school work and what not… Well, I haven't, but it's a very good excuse. In actuality, I'm just very lazy, and I've been busy reading. Because I have no life and that is all I do. But, luckily for you readers (which is actually probably only Caitlin, but, hey, if you fancy proving me wrong, you could always, you know, write us a review. I know, crazy idea right?) our dear friend Caitlin is writing the next chapter, and after the amount of pestering she's given me for this chapter to be finished, she better finish hers **_**fast.**_** So yeah, see you later. In about two or three chapters time! Ciao!**

_**Disclaimer: Sadly, we don't yet own Harry Potter. We have been pestering J.K Rowling for the rights to them, but she's not very compliant. We don't own The Lord Of The Rings or SpongeBob either, in case you're wondering. We are most definitely not 121 year old male writers.**_


	4. The Morning After

**The Predicament**

**The Morning After**

**Caitlin's POV**

I detest mornings. They are worse than school and that is saying something. Yawning, I try to will myself into getting up which sadly isn't working for me so I close my eyes and stretch out. Ouch! Well that is one thing to remember, scratch that, make it two: beds in Hogwarts dormitories are a lot smaller than I thought and the floor is a lot harder than mine at home.

"What… What was that?" Panicking, Sandra (Philips who is my new Hufflepuff 5th year best friend) immediately left her bed, oh how I envy those who are morning people.

"Are you alright?" Now calm she starts laughing when I groan painfully.

"Fell out of bed Caitlin?" She asks me, still laughing but at least helping me up which is more than my old friends would. Smiling slightly at her I make my way towards the bathroom, determined to have a shower before I have to see Dumbledore and resolving to use my special rose scented shower gel which hopefully will help ease the pain in my newly injured back and if it doesn't, at least I'll smell like roses which is always a good thing except of course if you live in Panem, where that would be an incredibly bad thing as Snow is probably going to either murder you, your entire family or even both.

Humming happily, I dance through the dorm changing into my jeans and vest while folding up my werewolf costume. I really do love werewolves though I guess I shouldn't have shouted at Lily… Get a grip Caitlin, get with the moment, it is only a few seconds later that I realise I have been staring into space and that one of my new roommates is trying to catch my attention.

"Are you alright Caitlin?" Concerned for my welfare already, wow, Hufflepuff really is the house for 'nice' people.

"Yup, just fine" I answer with a grin on my face.

"Meet you in the common room in 5 minutes yeah?" I shout to those behind me, already bounding off to closer inspect the Hufflepuff common room.

"She's mad isn't she? Our new roommate, mad…" I hear one of my new roommates, Eve, trail off sadly.

While scrutinizing the, I mean my, new common room which happened to be covered with plants even some singing and dancing ones (!) when I suddenly think how lucky I am to be sorted with the badgers though I don't know how I managed to get in as yes, I am hardworking and loyal to those I love but I am not… nice. God no, but then again I am not as bad as Tamsin so there is that I suppose.

Checking all of the sofas which were all yellow and black – house colours! - and which ones were the bounciest (I am such a child) by jumping on them of course, I abruptly fall right off into someone's arms. Oops, at least they don't know me yet but then, what if they form their opinion off me off this encounter. Worrying again, I drift off and then land back on earth when I am asked for the second time if I am alright.

"I'm fine…thanks," I reply while looking at my saviour (who caught me otherwise I would have another bruise to join the first one from falling off the bed).

"Good, good, I'm Gabriel, you're the new Hufflepuff student aren't you, the one who likes werewolves?" Gabriel smiles humorously.

"That would be me, and I do like werewolves as the whole school now knows…" I respond, meanwhile thinking what had come over me to shout in front of the whole school, let's just say I am not the most confident of people and so the subject must have been passionate. Oh yes, the prejudice (Such a difficult word) of the wizarding world.

"Why hello there…" Turning around, I see Keren stood at my shoulder, already sizing up Gabriel. Rolling my eyes I gesture to leave for the Great Hall though of course she doesn't understand and instead keeps smouldering her incredibly brown (so brown that they're nearly black!) eyes at Gabriel who increasingly looks like she wants to shift away from her but doesn't want to be rude, rather like Keren was doing last night except away from Peter, how the tables turn. Haha, poor guy, in fact, I pity all those at Hogwarts, Keren goes after anything that moves, again I find myself drifting away from the point.

"Keren, get a move on, now" I state irritated, pulling her with me towards the tunnel that is the entrance to our common room, out of the corner of my eye I can see Gabriel is relieved, though he won't be for long, not with Keren around.

"Wait a second Caitlin," Sandra calls rushing down the stair and quickly coming to a stop next to me. Together, we stroll through the tunnel past our entrance which turns out to be a load of barrels, very different from the other houses, and it appears that we Hufflepuffs are the only ones special enough to have repelling devices in case of intruders and if a non-Hufflepuff taps the wrong barrel or taps the incorrect number of times – instead of to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff – then they get doused in vinegar! How sour! Hehe, then again it could be altered to something more… creative, I'll have to think on that later, maybe with Tamsin.

Striding in front, I made my way out of the tunnel first, followed by Sandra and then Keren. One by one, the Hufflepuffs trickled out in groups of 3 or more, all heading towards the Great Hall.

"Yoo-hoo Taaaaamsin" I called out her name, extending the a for quite a while until of course, she hit me over the head. Harsh.

"Shut up Caitlin," growling she stalked towards the Great Hall with a meek Jessica following, I suppose she has already been shouted at this morning. A flaw of Tamsin's being her anger management, another two being intolerance and impatience. That basically sums Tamsin up except of course for the ever-so-cute dimple in her chin.

Shrugging, I nod at Keren, indicating for her to walk in front of me, understanding this gesture at least, she saunters forward. I roll my eyes at Sandra who snorts and we follow them inside.

Wow… Just wow. The Great Hall appears to be more amazing than it was last night; I still can't believe that we are actually at Hogwarts. Too late, I realise that I have stopped walking and seem to be staring at the sky above me, staring again. This appears to be one of my flaws as well as my needless babbling and pronunciation skills though that isn't my fault.

Turning around, Keren comes back for me, looping her arm through mine in a bid to get me walking towards our table again which does happen to work and so we set off once more. Finally reaching the table, I sit down waiting for Keren to also place her backside on the bench so we can talk about what has happened in our week so far. This happens to be a lot due to the fact that we crashed into a car, travelled backwards in time, ended up in the mental ward at St Mungo's and are now attending a wizarding school previously thought to be fictional and this in only 3 days! More has happened in the previous days than in my life so far (I must mention that I am 15 years old whereas Jessica and Keren are 16 while Tamsin is 17 which makes her believe she is superior).

Ravenously, I start to eat my simple toast and butter which I can accomplish in 3 minutes while Keren the finicky eater spends half her life eating, how long can it take to eat some cereal?

"Come on Keren, let's go to the Gryffindor table to wait for Tamsin and Jess. Bye Sandra, see you later," grinning I dragged my friend to Tamsin's table where she and Jess appear to be in an avid conversation about Lord of The Rings with Lily while sitting next to the infamous marauders. Sliding into a seat, I slip in between Remus and Jessica as though I didn't notice he was there.

"So, Lily, have you heard that Jessica dearest here, has the hots for Frodo while Tamsin hates Aragorn's wife's guts yet?" Smiling I told her what they hadn't got round to yet, clearly taking the wind out of their sails as seen by Tamsin's pout (which obviously has not been perfected in her lifetime).

"Oi, we were just getting to that bit, you had to ruin it," Jessica states indignantly while Tamsin starts ranting about her hate for Arwen.

"So, time to go to Dumbledore's office yet?" Keren, clearly freaked out by Peter's incessant staring, begs me with her eyes if we can leave. Rolling my eyes, I answer with an affirmative and guide Tamsin from her seat seeing as she is distracted due to her rant with Jessica leading the way.

Humming Hedwig's theme under my breath, I walk with a little skip in my step towards the Headmasters office where hopefully he is waiting for use.

* * *

**Remus's POV**

This new school year has been strange even for Hogwarts, especially with the 5th year girl Caitlin who loves werewolves. I didn't think anyone would like werewolves but maybe it is because the wizarding world's prejudice hasn't caught up with her yet. Her pronunciation skills were so cute, wait; did I just refer to someone as cute? Wow, I am in this deep. Biting my lip, I consider all of this until I am interrupted by a familiar feminine voice – Lily.

"Are you alright Remus?" Lily always has a little insight so I consider talking to her about it and get halfway through a shake of the head when she beats me to the punch.

"It's about Caitlin, isn't it?" Astounded, I nod but the only advice she gives me is to follow my heart, such a well-known quote but so useless as well. Stating the password to the guarding the Headmasters office, she hops up the stairs outside the door. Hearing raised voices, we cautiously open the door unlike what Padfoot and Prongs would have done in this situation, I shake my head to clear it of these thoughts and I'm astounded to see that it is Tamsin and Caitlin arguing heatedly.

"It is perfectly fine if Harry is a cat!" "NO, no it is NOT. Remember this little thing called CANON? Remember it?" "Of course I do, but can you remember something called, I don't know, IMAGINATION?"

Pretty soon, it reaches a decibel that I doubt humans can even hear, their faces gaining a tomato-like shade until their friend, Keren I think, screams very highly and very loudly. Meanwhile all this is going on, the Headmaster is sat behind his desk with his eyes twinkling merrily, I don't think anyway could make that twinkle disappear.

All of us clap our hands over our ears, especially me; it can sometimes be a pain, having sensitive hearing, all of us looking at Keren. It is then that Tamsin and Caitlin realise that they have an audience, glaring at each other; they are silent for a minute before the battle starts again. Ignoring it for the moment, I take a proper look at the four newcomers. Keren is small, slight, rather like a pixie while Jessica appears to have rather out-of-control hair and is only a little taller than Keren. Tamsin has auburn hair with icy blue eyes; all 3 appear to be on the smaller side of the scale. Caitlin on the other hand is the youngest but is also the tallest with fair hair with eyes that seem to change colour in the light though they are mostly green. Wait, how do I know this? I seem to be watching Caitlin a little more than is healthy, besides why would she like me? I'm a monster, no matter what she says about werewolves, she could never love someone like me…

* * *

**Caitlin's POV**

My eyes met with Tamsin's, an unneeded sorry passed between us and the rift that is caused by our arguments repaired itself wordlessly.

"Thank you for being punctual. I believe it is time for our new students to visit Diagon Alley and acquire their needed items for this school year. Mr Lupin, Miss Evans, I would like for the both of you, as prefects, to show these lovely ladies around Diagon Alley and direct them to which shops they will be procuring their items from." Dumbledore's voice rang through the room and Tamsin, Jessica and I tried to turn around subtly to look at both Lily and Remus and what their answers would be. Naturally, Keren couldn't care less just as long as she was going shopping.

"Of course we will, Professor Dumbledore." Lily answered positively for both Remus and herself.

"You shall be leaving from Professor McGonagall's floo at 10:30, all of you are excused from classes for the day, I assume you all have friends you can take notes for you?" looking over at the previously mentioned students from over his glasses. Both murmured in assent.

"Right, we'll be off then Professor, we need to go retrieve our money so we can buy these items." That said, Tamsin stood up and walked through the doorway with all three of us following behind. Remus and Lily were left blinking in surprise in the headmaster's office because of Tamsin's abrupt sentence and leaving the room without permission.

* * *

"Hurry up then, it has just struck 10:30," Professor McGonagall is sitting at her desk holding out a pot of floo powder with all six of us spread out around the fire. As Remus steps forward to grab a handful of the powder, Tamsin tries to majestically stride forward and push him out of the way but stumbles ( or falls with style as she likes to say, I don't fall) which kind of ruins the effect she was going for but Tamsin still powers onwards.

"FOR NARNIA!" With that said, she marches into the fireplace and (breathing in the smoke) chokes out a mumbled Diagon Alley but at least it was still clearly legible. Taken aback, Remus shakes his head before going for a second round but this time he is victorious and with an air that oozes expertise, steps into the hearth and unmistakably shouts Diagon Alley. Volunteering to go next, I grab a reasonable amount of floo powder and jump - with as much grace as I can muster - into the flames and yell Diagon Alley myself.

Spinning, I can feel the tell-tale signs of nausea arriving but then as suddenly as I disappeared I appear in the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace. I tumble out of the inglenook into the well-known, decrepit old pub and close my eyes. Expecting to fall onto floor with my usual elegance, I am pleasantly stunned when I am caught by none other than Remus Lupin (I suspect werewolf speed is involved). Out of the corner of my eye, I can see my dear friend Tamsin practically rolling on the floor laughing but my attention is diverted by the unexpected close vicinity of my face to Remus'. The world stops for a moment… time itself stands still… we stare into each others eyes for what seems to be a lifetime. I know then that it's true love. Ha, only joking, did I have you going for a moment there?

Tamsin clears her throat while tears of hysterical laughter are still rolling down her face, down her prominent nose (I don't understand how that is possible but that is Tamsins thoughts and apparently what her tears do) and drips forcefully onto her chin dimple bypassing her lips.

"Sorry to interrupt this intimate moment but the others are now here so I think we better git goin'." The last bit of her sentence tainted heavily with a Yorkshire twang. Looking around, I see the evidence of her claim and try to pull away from Remus which was not working until he noticed and apologised with blush apparent on his features.

There was a little snort from behind us where Tamsin is still in hysterics and attempts to shoo us forward into the entrance of Diagon Alley. Jessica surges forward, rolling her eyes and grabs both mine and Tamsins arms to pull us ahead to where Lily and Keren are waiting with amused looks on their faces. Giggling, I lurch forward, once again excited for our trip into Diagon Alley and start to push everyone towards the doorway. Lily smiles at my enthusiasm and pulls her wand out and begins to tap a series of bricks. I look around, Tamsin with a manic grin on her face, Jessica looking as if she is about to explode with anticipation, I feel myself trying to curb the animated jumping while Keren is stood there with an indifferent expression on her phizog.

There is the sound of crumbling, scraping bricks in front of us and I immediately whip my head back around and stare in wonder as the bricks begin to part.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was entirely written by Caitlin (moi) with a couple of added sentences from Tamsin in the last 400 words. Personally I think that this chapter was produced quite quickly so there, Tamsin, I was a hell of a lot faster than you :P. I wrote the majority of this chapter on the night when Tamsin put her chapter up (may I add on the night her uncle died so kudos for her… I am never using that phrase again; I just thought it sounded awesome XD). If you get this far in our story, well done as I understand that the alerts for this story can be very few and far between which I, myself, find incredibly annoying.**

**Please review or favourite this story or else the big bad monster will come and get you – in this case, the monster is called Voldemort. **

**If you review with your name, we might conveniently meet someone with that very same name in Diagon Alley. What a coincidence that would be! **

_**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise will probably be the work of J.K. Rowling or possibly even JRR Tolkien. We don't own this amazingly awesome franchise so stop making us want to cry! :P**_


	5. Diagon Alley

**A/N I'm sooooooooo sorry for the length of time it's taken for this to be uploaded! Feed me to the chickens, I'm such a bad person. Also, don't shout at me for how bad this is - I'm sorry.**

* * *

**The Predicament**

**Chapter 5: Diagon Alley**

**Jessica's POV**

Okay, finding out that Hogwarts existed was pretty cool. Then learning that I could _actually_ go to school there was even better. And _then_ realising how simple it was to steal Dumbledore's lemon drops without anyone – least of all, the old wizard himself – realising? Well, that was fantastic.

But this? Diagon Alley? Right here in the middle of London? It's beyond words.

Well, for me at least, Tamsin seems to be doing a swell job making a large amount of noise – as per usual.

"So where to first, Professor Lupin?" Asks Tamsin, clapping the lanky boy on the back.

"Er –" the boy flounders for a few seconds, lost under the status of his name. He looks kind of cute when he doesn't know what to say. _Shit, _better not let Cait hear me say that. "You said you had some money," he continues. "But if not they have school funds anyway. So maybe we should go to Gringotts to get it changed?"

"YES! GOBLINS!" Tamsin jumps forward, propelling herself towards the gleaming white building at the end of the street. "_JESSICA_!" she shrieks, "WE GET TO MEET YOUR HUSBAND!"

I send her a rather obvious glare as Lily looks on curiously.

A few passing witches and wizards stop and stare, not least because two of our merry little party are dressed in Hogwarts uniforms. They probably reckon we've stown away, ready to begin the next chapter of our lives as pirates. The Pirates of Diagon Alley; yeah that sounds cool.

Oh wait! We'd need a ship and eye patches and rum and some water for that. Preferably an ocean. Or maybe just a large lake. Whatever. I'm off topic.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Sweet shop!"

Still off topic.

Lily laughs from beside me. Wow, why does she have such a nice laugh? I sound like a dying hyena when I laugh. Well, on occasion. Apparently my laugh changes every time I laugh.

"I never asked last night," the red head begins. "But where do you four come from? And why have you only just transferred?"

Lily is talking to me. Asking me questions I don't know the answers to. Fuck, fuckity-fuck. Guys! Help! Anyone!

At times like this I wish my friends were mind readers. I mean, _come on_, is it that difficult an ability to master?

I cast my eyes around our company with alarming speed. Tamsin is off in the far distance, already almost at the stone steps outside Gringotts, Keren is indisposed reapplying her makeup in a handheld compact mirror and Caitlin is bloody flirting with Remus which therefore leaves me – _me of all people _– to hold a conversation with Lily the Genius; Lily the Genius who will almost definitely see through any random lie that I throw at her.

"Well, we – er – we were – er - homeschooled?" I state, though making it sound much more like a question. "Yeah! We were home-schooled, and then – our pet goldfish died - God bless his soul. We were – erm - so distraught we came to Hogwarts so we could adopt the Giant Squid." Yes, perfectly feasible.

She laughs again as she readjusts her satchel type thing, "No, seriously Jess."

"I am being serious!" I retort defiantly. Alright, so that might have been a teensy lie. But what did she want me to say? Did she want me to tell her the story of how we crashed into a ministry car and somehow found ourselves God knows how many years in the past? And not only in the past, but in a not-so-fictional world from our favourite book series? Yeah, let's count how many seconds it takes for her to cart us all back to St Mungo's.

Not that Keren would mind another encounter with Healer Lewis, I'm sure.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me you don't have to. But how did you four become friends anyway? You're quite a – er – _odd_ group, no offense," says Lily.

"We are a bit odd, aren't we." I muse as we continue to meander down the street. "I guess we're just oddities together and therefore when all in the presence of each other become unodd? Or would that just multiply our oddness?"

"I –" Lily cut herself off. "I don't quite know." Ha, I bet that's the first time she's not known something.

I'm about to retort with some other amazing analysis into our friendship when I realise we've arrived at the marbled building. It's bigger than I imagined, higher and wider and a lot more structured. The doors, on the other hand, seem far too small for a dragon and three criminals (Looking at you Golden Trio) to break out of in twenty years. I voice this and Remus turns to stare at me (Lily already is).

"What?" he asks.

I grin, "Nothing to worry about, none of your concerns… yet."

"Okay… let's just go get your money."

* * *

Twenty minutes later we're out of the Wizarding bank and heading back down the shopping street debating whether to get our wands first (Caitlin's idea), get our uniforms first (Keren's idea) or buy our books first (Tamsin's idea).

"Right, well, since we all know I'm the most superior of the four I vote wands because wands are badass." I decide, much to Caitlin's pleasure.

"Plus Ollivander is probably pretty lonely all cooped up by himself!" Caitlin chips in with a very valid point.

"BUT THINK ABOUT THE BOOKS, CAIT! THE BOOKS ARE LONELY TOO!" wails Tamsin overdramatically. In case you haven't figured or it's just not been mentioned - Tamsin loves books. She lives for them. Quite literally.

"Let's think about this logically," Remus intervenes before we all get out of hand personifying books and whatnot. "Wands will take up the least space, so those first followed by your uniforms and then your books because they're heavy."

Caitlin lets out a shrill squeal of excitement followed by what I can only presume is the word "wands!"

I catch Tamsin's eye and we both roll our eyes. Who knows if Caitlin is more excited about getting a wand or having Remus agree with her. Let's be honest, it's probably the latter.

Now I'd love to be able to tell you an in depth anecdote about how amazing it felt to get our first real wands and even though it was bloody incredible – except for when Keren blew off her eyebrows, though that was pretty funny if not to her then to us – we were in the shop for near enough _three hours. _THREE HOURS! IN A SHOP! Bloody hell.

Anyway, the four of us managed to _eventually _find our perfect matches and came out of the shop hungry and exhausted.

"Why is my wand so small?" Keren complains, holding up the 8 inch ash. "Look at all yours! There's nothing interesting about _mine_."

"Nonsense Keren, just because I have an elder wand doesn't mean that you're inferior." I pat her shoulder. "I mean, it does state on Pottermore that those with elder wands are the superior in their chosen company so I suppose it _does _mean that really but Caitlin and Tamsin are inferior _with _you."

Tamsin scoffs. "I have a _phoenix feather_ in mine bitches. Plus it's 12½ inches!

"13 inches!" Caitlin sings, waving her elm wand in Tamsin's face. "Plus dragon heartstring."

"Hello?" I call. "Is no one listening? I have an _elder wand_. Do you guys not realise how awesome that is? I might not own _the _elder wand, but this could be, like, the elder wand's brother or something."

"Because that's likely," says Tamsin.

"Whatever, can we please just go get some food?" I whine at Lily and Remus, who are talking between themselves. Something about Prefect duties, I think. Or maybe they're discussing James Potter's (probable) abs – that seems the type of thing his best friend and arch enemy are likely to discuss.

Remus breaks off, "sure, we can head back to the Leaky Cauldron if you want."

Lily wrinkles her nose. "No thanks Remus; I know a much nicer place down here!" She turns sharply down a well-lit side street. Remus shrugs at us (pretty sure it's aimed more at Caitlin, but whatever) and gestures for us to follow.

"Well, what's the worst that could happen?" asks Keren.

"They lure us into a trap and Remus turns Caitlin into his sex slave?"

"What about the rest of us?"

"Oh, we get to enjoy a hearty portion of ice cream with dear Lily."

* * *

"What type of café doesn't sell ice cream?!"

Seriously, that's what they're_ there _for. No one likes this coffee tosh, everyone's only here for the creamy desserts. Well, they would be if they actually _sold any._

"I'm in a half mind to report you to the ministry," I tell the sort of terrified looking man behind the counter in what I hope is a stern voice, leaning against the counter. "No playing around on my part. I came to this café specifically for ice cream –"

"I thought we came because Lily thought it was a nice place?" Remus interjects in the most unhelpful manor.

"_Not helping Remus_."

In the end I settle for a plate of chips and two muffins, but I still didn't get the ice-cream I deserve. I wanted a chocolate frog but apparently they don't sell those _either_. Muggle-themed café my arse.

The rest of the Idjits (read: Caitlin, Tamsin and Keren) ordered similar food to me (except Keren went a lot healthier), and so did Remus and Lily (though both of them opted for a singular dessert as opposed to multiples).

"Right," Lily declared, setting down her mug of coffee (seriously, why do they even sell it, this isn't _Starbucks_) around ten minutes later. "Tell us a bit about yourselves then."

"What do you want to know?" asks Keren despite the fact she's only halfway through her own meal (finicky eaters are the bane of my existence).

"Anything," she decides with a flutter of the shoulders. "Where are you from?"

"Yorkshire," Tamsin buts in unsurprisingly in one of the thickest accents she can muster.

"You don't have to say it like that," Caitlin frowns. "Not all of us are as broad as you."

"I'm not that broad!" Tamsin protests. "Just because you speak _sophisticatedly._"

"Guys, shut up!" Ha, there, that told them. "I have nine siblings," I say to fill the silence. Besides, it's fun to watch people's reactions to that little fact anyway.

"Nine?!" Both Remus and Lily's eyebrows shoot up. "You've got to be joking."

I shake my head. "Nope, nine. Trust me, I've checked."

"Wow," Lily shakes her head too in amusement. "I only have one, but she's a right royal pain."

The four of us time travellers (wow, we can actually say that, can't we! This is definitely going on my blog when we get home) share an all-knowing look.

"Oh we know," says Tamsin.

"You – you do?" It's pretty fair to say that Lily looks more than a little confused.

"We – urm – we heard someone mention her yesterday," lies Caitlin, quick on the uptake. "One of your dorm mates, I think. What was her name -?"

"It was probably Mary," sighs Lily. "She doesn't really like Petunia that much."

"I wonder why," Tamsin's voice is low enough that Lily doesn't hear, laced with sarcasm.

The conversation momentarily lulls. In the silence, Remus looks to his watch. "Wow, it's getting late, we really should go buy your –"

"BOOKS!"

Everyone turns to stare.

That's not even an exaggeration. Literally _everyone_ turns to look at Tamsin with wide eyes.

She takes it in her stride though, and marches out of the door.

"Wait!" I call after her. "Goddammit - you said you were paying!"

* * *

**A/N This is entirely my fault and - bloody hell - this is the first update of 2013. I apologise so much. Hopefully we'll actually start up more of a routine for this now or something because ahfdbdjgndlgkfgl I hate myself don't worry.**

**Again, I apologise for how fantastically bad this is I just got sick of it staring at me in my documents.**

_**Disclaimer: Yada yada, we don't own HP obviously.**_


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